Looking for spanish school recommendation

Hello Becky

I just posted about Alba. I was in Quito for almost half of a year studying, and I went to alot of schools. I learned alot of things in all that, and in the end I studied with Alba the longest. In some ways the schools have alot of similarities, in other ways they can be different. For example it is standard for schools to offer a minmum of 4 hours a day, Salsa lessons once a week, outings (for additional cost), homestays and one on one classes. If you are looking for a school experience then there are quite a few established schools in Quito. However I would be sure to go with an established school that has recent recommendations, as I learned that a few schools (like Bipo and Toni's) had been really good sometime ago and are still around but have not maintained a high standard (and all of their printed information comes from 5 years ago or so when the school was thriving, so all that said printed materia, as with websites can be a bit misleading).

If you are not in a hurry and are not planning on going during high season (when all the schools and tours are booked) then I would recommend going to Quito having a look for yourself at different schools in person to see what you are comfortable with. If you want to do a homestay, I stayed for a few weeks (I eventually ended up renting a room in a house) with a really nice family that lives close to all of the schools. The apartment is quite big so there are usually a few other foreigners there studying Spanish as well (in different schools). I could give you their information. I had a really good experience with them and have recommended them to other people going who have also in turn enjoyed their stay with the family.

But I would still recommend Alba, if you are worried about meeting other students, there are alot of ways to meet people in Quito. Usually you can meet people in your homestay and then there is also the South American Explorers Club, I think the site is www.saexplorers.org...or .com..I forget, but they have a clubhouse in Quito and there is always tons going on there. Quito is a great city I think to study in and there is much to see in Ecuador.

Best of luck in your search.

I am living in Quito now and have attended two schools here. So far both have been good but different. I would advise you to do google searches for "spanish4students" "moving ecuador" "theecuatraveller" and "123teachme". These are sites which rate the schools in Quito and sometimes in other locations. I suggest that you do your homework and research these sites thoroughly paying close attention to the feedback that you get about the different programs offerred. As you take in this information try to form a mental picture in your mind of your "ideal school". What kinds of activities would be offered there and what kind of students would attend. It's not really just the case that there are some schools that are good and schools that are bad and recommendations don't work necessarily because we are not all looking for the same language learning experience. The schools that will bring the highest praise are some of the ones in the Mariscal that are easy to find because they are right in the middle of the tourist district. They are gauranteed a certain amount of traffic because of their locations but the rent for operating in these areas is not cheap and these schools pass that cost on to you the student. So you have to decide how important it is for you to study in a pretty, easy to get to building. There are schools that specialize in business clients and that have contracts with companies to bring an older more settled group of students in to learn Spanish. These schools will sometimes customize a study regimen in order to emphasize vocabulary specific to one's profession or field of study. Still, there are a whole group of schools here that cater to the transient backpacker population and their programs are designed to be as affordable as possible with no frills and are dedicated to teach beginners enough spanish to make their travel experience easier. Oftentimes the teachers at these schools are younger university students who are trying to earn a quick buck on the side. Sometimes they don't have much experience but they have a lot in common with the people that they are teaching and this can be beneficial. Then there are the school/volunteer organizations that highlight the cultural element of their programs. In these places you will learn a lot about the history and culture of Ecuador and, in addition to benefiting from the knowledge and experience of the school staff, they will make an effort to see that Quito benefits from your stay here as well by utilizing any special skills that you may have to service the local community. All of these options are actually a blessing and not a curse so DON'T PANIC. The competition between the schools helps to keep the prices down and encourages schools to keep coming up with new programs and special offers that will make their school stick out from the pack. Keep in mind, however, that there is very little regulation for this industry and there are some scammers and losers here as well. I think that anyone who preschedules their school and homestay via the Internet sight unseen is not doing a good job of taking advantage of the special Spanish school environment that exists here in Quito and few other places in the world. The competition will work to your advantage if you have a really good idea of what you want and you wait until you get here and take the time to really investigate many options. I think that one of the first things that you should ask about is the flexibility of the school. If you do not like your homestay situation (unfortunately some families are just in it for the extra money and are not very friendly or helpful to some students) can you switch families? Can you switch teachers if there is no chemistry there? If you pay weeks in advance can you get your money back? In Quito you can pay anywhere from $4 to $14 an hour for lessons and a more expensive place is not always a better place. Teachers can sometimes be disgruntled because some of them are only earning a few hundred dollars per month. The same school that charges you $8 an hour to study may only be paying their teachers $2 to work there and may be piling 10 hours of work on them per day. This can suck some of the enthusiasm out of their professionalism. Other schools force teachers to study certain materials or provide guidelines about what the teacher can discuss with the student and this also has the capacity to create resentment that may be passed on to you the student. I know exactly how you feel because I was in your position about 4 months ago when I was trying to make this decision myself. Focus on what YOU want and then use this vision as a measuring stick to compile a list of possiblilities then get down here and hit the pavement running, checking out each school on the list and letting the intuition that is based on your initial reaction to a school be your guide. Most of the negative reports that I have seen written on a particular language school stem from the fact that the school and the student were mismatched, not that the school was intrinsicaly worthless.

I attended Amazonas School in Quito for 6 weeks last year and thought it was great. Pefect location, awesome owner, good professors, they organized everything included my homestay and a week trip in the jungle for me. Google "Amazonas Spanish School" and you'll find their website.

VP.

Just check out this listing of spanish schools, there are some comments and ratings included. I'm sure you will find it useful.

Ive just finished 2 weeks at Puka Inti (or something like that!( in uito and would recommend them / avenida 9 octubre. Email Mirian or Patricia ecuevp2004@gmail.com. uite small but friendly and excellent teachers (jolanda was great( and organise homestays for you as well as various volunteer projects if interested. I did 4 hours lessons in the morning and volunteered at an orphanage in the afternoons, loved it! Also organised excursions at weekends with other students and had weekly salsa lessons. good to get to know other students and hang out with them socially. Good luck!

Bumping this up to recommend a great alternative in Cuenca. The Abraham Lincoln Binational Cultural Center is predominantly a high-school/ college for Ecuadorian youth who want to learn English, but they have excellent teachers who give 1:1 Spanish lessons at whatever level for whatever duration for 7 bucks an hour. I´ve learned more in 2 days (3 hours a day) than I did in a year of university classes in the US. There´s no pressure at all: you buy however many tickets you need for the day before your class, and you can get refunds if you don´t want to use them for whatever reason. There´s lots of good, cheap housing in Cuenca, the outlaying areas are great for day trips on weekends, and you can make all the decisions about how much you want to learn and what you want to do with the rest of your time.

Highly recommended: just google the center and email the director.